Dear Gregory Maguire
by Edgar Allan Frost
Summary: Not really a fanfiction, but a letter of thanks to the author, Gregory Maguire


Dear Gregory Maguire,

From the moment I arrived on Earth, I've never felt like I truly belonged anywhere or with anyone. I enjoy different music than everyone else, I have different interests, and people tend to get extremely annoyed at my "crazy on the outside, but soft on the inside" personality. I mean, I'm not a loner or anything, but I've just never known anyone who was completely comfortable with being around me without acting as if they wanted to call an insane asylum at times. I'm loving every second of my life...but there's that sense of belonging that I sometimes feel is missing.

Three and a half years ago, I read your book _Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West_. It wasn't something I had wanted to read that badly. My mom didn't enjoy it when I read books that had low reading levels, so one day, she came up with a list of books that had high reading levels. It's not like the title jumped at me or even stood out at all, _Wicked_ was just the the only book that was categorized in the fiction genre. So, reluctantly, I checked out a copy of your book from the library.

I flipped the book open to the first page, read the first few paragraphs, and groaned. _Ugh, this is just an overly dramatized spinoff of The Wizard of Oz! _I thought to myself. But I pushed on and told myself to not judge the book until I was at least a few chapters in.

The more I read, the more I grew to love it. The main character, Elphaba, struggles to find her place in the world, just like I do. When I read about Elphaba being born with green skin and very sharp teeth, so hideous that her own mother considered drowning her, I could relate to her, as I've sometimes felt like I stand out in a bad way too.

When Nessarose is born in the book, she is beloved and fawned over by everyone and Elphaba was sort of pushed off to the side as her sister took the spotlight. My sister is an amazing gymnast, she gets straight-A+'s and is the apple of everyone's eye. Me, well, I don't do sports, my grades aren't as great as my sister's and the people around me are either annoyed by me or they just ignore me. But reading about how much Elphaba cared for her sister and loved her sister, even if she gets no credit at all for it, taught me to act the same way with my sister and I feel like instead of resenting my sister, I now love her and am so proud of her accomplishments.

At school, Elphaba is roomed with a beautiful and popular girl who is horrified that she has to sleep in the same dorm as a hideous green monster. When she attempts to humiliate Elphaba in front of the whole school by tricking her into wearing a horrible-looking hat, Elphaba does the opposite of what everyone expects. She made the ugly hat look beautiful. I like to think that, like Elphaba, I can find beauty in bad situations and surprise everyone with how I handle things.

_Wicked_ has also taught me that life is harsh sometimes, but it is important to not let hard times take control of your life. As I read about Shen-Shen posing as Galinda just to embarrass Elphaba and succeeds, I saw that even though Elphaba was a strong girl, she wasn't always able to keep from being humiliated. She's not one of those stereotypical "Disney" characters who has everything work out exactly right in her life. It makes the story a lot more realistic and relatable. But even if Elphaba can't escape the trenches, she _can _make the best of her situation. When Dr. Dillamond, her favorite professor and a big protestor of animal rights, is murdered, Elphaba continues to campaign for animal rights in Dillamond's place. When Fiyero, her lover, is killed, she doesn't mourn and stay depressed for the rest of her life, she goes to his family and offers help to them. _Wicked _helped me learn that positivity and responsibility can make bad situations a whole lot better.

One last life lesson I took away from _Wicked_ is that things will always get better. Elphaba feels that all is lost when her sister, Nessarose, is killed. She goes into hiding, only to be discovered by Dorothy, a young girl sent by the Wizard of Oz to kill her. But when Dorothy arrives, she tells Elphaba that she doesn't want to kill her and that she is sorry for her sister's death. Unfortunately, Dorothy does not know that Elphaba's skin cannot touch water. As she tries to put out a fire that Elphaba accidentally sets on herself, Dorothy melts Elphaba. But as you come to the end of the last page, you are saluted by an inference that Elphaba will someday rise up out of the ashes. Your book has taught me that there's always a chance to rise up out of the ashes.

_Wicked_ is a beautiful novel celebrating family, acceptance, and optimism. But more than that, it is a novel that has changed who I am. Instead of trying to fit in, I try to stand out. Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, I stay positive and find light in every black hole. Gregory Maguire, your novel, _Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, _has taught me to accept myself.

With utmost gratitude and appreciation,

Edgar Allan Frost


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